This invention relates to an ironing board, and in particular an ironing board built into a piece of furniture. The ironing board has a cabinet face covering the enclosure used to store the ironing board, and rails to extend and retract the ironing board out of and into the enclosure.
Ironing boards that are foldable or telescoping and are incorporated into furniture have been described, and include: U.S. Pat. No. 5,444,928 issued on Aug. 29, 1995, to Sagel; U.S. Pat. No. 5,241,766 issued on Sep. 7, 1993, to Waltz et al.; and U.S. Pat. No. 3,641,947 issued on Feb. 15, 1972 to Finney. These ironing boards have a seam on the working surface where the ironing board is folded, thus potentially causing unwanted creases to be formed in the article of clothing or material being ironed.
Previous ironing boards that are stored in cabinet like enclosures and are not folded are known in the art and include: U.S. Pat. No. 5,452,531 issued on Sep. 26, 1995 to Graville et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 4,049,332 issued on Sep. 20, 1977 to Bourdeaux; U.S. Pat. No. 5,241,766 issued on Sep. 7, 1993 to Waltz et al.; and U.S. Pat. No. 2,227,786 issued on Jan. 7, 1941 to LaFee. Each of these ironing boards is incorporated into furniture in a relatively permanent way, and removal of the ironing board assembly cannot be accomplished without the use of tools.